Car-Vel Skate Center — Attraction in Leon Valley

On 12-18-21 the manager(Scott) stole my son's backpack, which had $30 & a monster drink, and refused to return it unless my son gave him $400. He said my son CAUSED a power outage and I owe him $400. He admitted to having my son's bag in his office and refused to return it. He said it was "collateral".

Mgr stated that the outlet was broken, and when my son plugged in his cell phone charger, it caused a shortage. He said there was a metal piece stuck in the outlet, and that my son plugging in his charger caused it to short....luckily my son wasn't harmed when he plugged in that charger!!

There were NO signs or covering to warn customers that it was broken....so how would anyone know?

I asked for my son's bag and he replied in a very sassy and sarcastic tone with head shakes and all, "I don't know where it is, go ahead and call the cops." I did call them. The officer had to explain to Scott that stealing personal property from customers is illegal. Scott admitted to the officer that he knew the outlet wasn't working, and admitted no signs or coverings were posted, but still wanted his customers to pay for it. When the officer was then escorting us out, Scott yelled at my son and his friend that they're "banned forever". Even when I  did not press charges for the theft.

I reached out to the owner, Kopricia, to ask if she was going to allow this insane ban to hold up.  After a week she said she'd like to speak under the rouge that she wanted to hear my side and work things out. We met on Dec 27th, 2021. At first she seemed sweet and respectful, however, within 2 whole minutes she had the nerve to try to shake me down for $200! She stated that she did NOT have a bill to show me,  but if I didn't pay her,  then my son could  not come back. (!!!!!) That was obviously the only reason she asked me to come talk to her. So when I  respectfully refused and reminded her that a company must fix safety hazards that they knowingly have, she became irate and very aggressive and at one point slammed her fist against the wall like 3x.

The irony is that she probably would have recieved thousands per year from my household if she hadn't banned my kid! He attended so often and spent every spare penny he had there, and I have 2 others that attended as well!

She did not want to admit that her manager stole either- she preferred saying the bag was "picked up". "Picking up" an item and refusing to return it when you identify the owner unless they give you $400? Really?

I remained calm but this lady tried real hard to set me off and make me think she was going to attack me or something, which as funny as that may sound - watching a grown woman in her 50's+ behaving like that - it's more of a true testimant to her lack of  knowledge and understanding on how to run a business...from a liability standpoint at the very least.

THEFT AND EXTORTION ARE ILLEGAL. I encourage management from Car-vel to look it up.

These people are highly emotional, immature, and unprofessional, and to ban children from a place for no reason, and attempt to steal from them and manipulate families into paying for Car-vel's  business expenses...leaving safety hazards unaddressed in order to blame them on paying customers??  Not cool.

The way they're trying to shake me down for cash through NO OFFICIAL means tells me something shady is going on here. Honestly, if I knew this was the way these two adults behaved, I never would have allowed my children to attend in the first place! The facility is dirty yes, and they don't seem to have heat in the winter, but it's close, and the kids like hanging there. After seeing management's behavior...whoa. I do NOT recommend.

Some advice for management, take it or leave it- If there is an electrical issue, you cover it until repaired. If there is a plumbing issue, you block off usage until it's repaired. If there is a spill on the floor, you best put up a wet floor sign ASAP and then clean it. This is common sense!  Blaming customers for your own poor management skills...

Don't bother! This place used to be good, it is a joke. We came for a private birthday party. I am an avid skater and am pretty aware of skating surfaces and avoiding accidents along with care of skates and the basic standard to do so. The newly renovated epoxy floor was so dirty that my skates were sticking to the floor as pieces of hard candy stuck to my skate that caused me to nearly fall. There were plastic pieces and jewelry links also visible. Since our party just started thirty minutes earlier, it was clear the floors were not cleaned the night before, not even dusted. When brought to management's attention, including the owner Kaprecia, she was argumentative, she lied and stated she cleaned the floor herself last night after a large event. They agreed to run a dust mop over the floor, but that would not change the stuck on film from failure to maintenance over time.

It is sad to watch the rate of decline of this facility, along with the decline in reputation of the family owned business, steeped in rich San Antonio history of this establishment. I don't believe this is what Mr. Forsyth envisioned in 1967, as he was meticulous about a lot of aspects of starting the business as a first-rate skating rink, competition ready, and family friendly. It appears that the advent of other better run and updated entertainment facilities will likely be the demise of Car-vel, as I watch rollersskating clubs meet in places like gyms and other cities to avoid the hassle and poor experience and the public choose other venues. When this business has come up as a way to put on a family friendly event, there are so many stories of a poor experience over time, the conversation never goes far.

I imagine the prime location in Leon Valley could be a real-estate venture worth considering, as the decline is likely due to high operating costs combined with unrecoverable losses, poor business/operational management at a time when there are many options to entertain the familyowned.

At this time, I would not recommend for small or...

Do not sign up for skating lessons here as they don’t exist.

Signed up for my 5-year-old to get lessons. On the first day there were over 40 students and ONLY 1 instructor! That gave each student almost 1 minute with the instructor. I was told by Stacy, the instructor, to teach my child myself for the next 58 minutes of that paid lesson.

Secondly, there is no cap on the students; she specifically mentioned that she does not put a limit on how many students she will take on per session. This needs to be PUBLISHED/CLARIFIED/STATED on their website when you sign up for lessons or at least inform the parent BEFORE they sign up for the class that your child will only get about 1-2 minutes of instruction even though you are paying for the entire hour.

Thirdly, when I brought this up, Stacy offered I could sign my child up for April class, which currently has no students enrolled in it. I asked if there will be a limit as to how many students she will take on, she said, "No". So what is the point of signing up for another class when you will repeat the same scenario which is - 1 teacher with unlimited amount of students?

Lastly, the entire place smells really bad, and is...